Robbie Keane completes 'dream' move to Celtic
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Golden Bhoy! Celtic lure Tottenham's Robbie Keane on £65k per week deal
Celtic completed a sensational transfer coup on Monday night as boyhood fan Robbie Keane finally pulled on the Hoops.
Golden Bhoy: Robbie Keane joins Celtic on loan
The Spurs captain has travelled north on loan until the end of the season as manager Tony Mowbray sets about staging a remarkable SPL championship revival.
And to complete one of the most dramatic days of transfer activity in the club's history, Celtic also rejected another £8million inquiry from Birmingham for fans' favourite Aiden McGeady.
Now Republic of Ireland pair Keane and McGeady will team up in a bold bid to overhaul Rangers' emphatic 10-point lead in the title race, with the Active Nation Scottish Cup also firmly in Celtic's sights.
Keane is available for a quickfire debut in Tuesday night's SPL clash at Kilmarnock.
Chief executive Peter Lawell revealed how they finally got their man. 'We've been pretty persistent in the last few windows in terms of keeping in touch with what he was wanting to do,' he said.
Boyhood club: Robbie Keane is unveiled to the Celtic fans late on Monday night
'Thankfully, today, we were able to do a deal. 'We've known for a while that Robbie is a Celtic supporter and he's a great connection with the club and our fans.
Turing up in their droves: Celtic fans await the arrival of new signing Keane
'Up until today, things were not looking very great at all. Things changed this afternoon and we were able to put a deal in very quickly.
'His situation at Spurs was made, I think, pretty plain to him. He always knew we were very, very keen to get him.'
Lucky number seven: Robbie Keane poses with his new Celtic shirt
Celtic legend Charlie Nicholas applauded the signing, saying: 'Celtic fans have been waiting for a lift from a signing for a long time. At last, someone - be it Tony Mowbray or whoever - has shown a bit of imagination and asked if they can go out and break the bank and land Robbie Keane.
Old McDonald: Celtic fans show their delight in capturing the Spurs striker
'I've been very critical of my old club in the recent past, but this is definitely one that will draw people out to watch Celtic again.
'Celtic fans are like Liverpool fans, in my opinion. They will give everything for the cause, but if you don't give them what they want, then they get very angry indeed. This is one for them to savour.'
Irish financier Dermot Desmond, the club's largest shareholder, has always wanted Keane's name across the back of the Celtic jersey and will fund the player's staggering £65,000 White Hart Lane weekly wages for the period of his stay in Scotland - but Tottenham have waived their demand for a £1m loan fee.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp only gave the deal the green light late yesterday and said: 'Going to Celtic is a dream come true for Robbie. I've decided to let him go on loan until the end of the season.
'It's a move that appeals to him. He is a Celtic man. To go up there and play will be good for him, just like it was for Roy Keane when he left Manchester United a few years ago.'
Incredibly, the Dubliner who grew up following the club, becomes the 14th player to arrive in the Mowbray era - after just two transfer windows - as Desmond and Lawwell emphatically back Gordon Strachan's successor, despite a less than emphatic start to his Parkhead reign.
Irish stout: Keane will team up with Ireland teammate McGeady at club level
To cap a frantic day at Parkhead, Keane joined Diomansy Kamara and Edson Braafheid in the arrivals hall and Mowbray now has five topline strikers to choose from - with Morten Rasmussen, Marco Fortune and Georgios Samaras all competing for places.
But it is Keane's arrival that will thrill fans after no fewer than five years of rumours about him moving north to his beloved Parkhead.
Those deals were always scuppered by finance - he has been involved in combined transfer deals of £70million - but last night ambitious Celtic were finally celebrating with the completion of his loan deal.
The departure of Scott McDonald to Middlesbrough, meantime, scarcely registered with ecstatic Celtic fans last night, nor the apparent collapse of a bid for Spanish defender Ivan Ramis.
The Real Mallorca star was booked on a flight to Scotland at one stage, but changed his mind.
Top scorer McDonald rejoined Strachan for a fee of around £3.5m as the former Parkhead boss made it five ex-Celts at the Riverside.
Sportsmail understands the little Australian, who scored 50 league goals in 88 appearances after a cut-price move from Motherwell, has landed a contract until the summer of 2014.
Middlesbrough funded the move with the sale of Adam Johnson to Manchester City for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £6m.
McDonald's lucrative Riverside contract will make him a millionaire six or seven times over as he joins Stephen McManus, Barry Robson, Chris Killen and Willo Flood at Boro.
McDonald, 26, leaves Scotland as the third top scorer in the SPL alltime list with 94 goals - his last an equaliser in the Old Firm derby on January 3.
As the Aussie departed Scottish football, Kamara arrived at Parkhead in a loan deal from Fulham with a view to a permanent move in the summer.
He was joined by Bayern Munich left-back Braafheid, with the Dutchman also arriving on loan. Mowbray completed another 'project' signing in recruiting 18-year-old winger Paul Slane from Motherwell on a four-year deal.
Senegal international Kamara spoke to John Hartson, once his team-mate under Mowbray at West Brom, about the move north and revealed Henrik Larsson was his hero as a youngster.
'When I was younger my football hero was Henrik Larsson and for me it's a dream to play for Celtic,' said the 29-year-old.
Braafheid, who has five full caps with Holland, revealed he spoke to international boss Bert van Marwijk and was given his seal of approval to come to Scotland.
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congratulations on your ''dream'' move. Still got how many dreams?
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keane and berba was doing very well at spurs.
they left for 'greener pastures' and now both of their careers are going downhill.
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I thought Palichenko will leave first, never thought that keane is the first of the striker to leave.
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Lolx
ur dream completed lia0 wor
ole pavl still in
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a big big step down for Keane and Kamara................but Celtic has boosted their firepower by at least 100%...............
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Originally posted by dragg:
keane and berba was doing very well at spurs.
they left for 'greener pastures' and now both of their careers are going downhill.
exactly.
who would have thought that they cant shine without each other man
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Doesn't this ring a bell to anyone he said that it was his "dream" when he joined Liverpool the club he supported and now Celtic...hmmm dejavu anyone?
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well, robbie, just rem to inform the manager when u next plan the christmas party hor...
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Originally posted by iceFatboy:
well, robbie, just rem to inform the manager when u next plan the christmas party hor...
all because of a party. -
Originally posted by dragg:
all because of a party.well, he went behind harry's back when he publicly told them not to do it.. sometimes, just have to respect the gaffer lor..
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Berbatov is doing very well at United... At Spurs he hardly gets much attention only once in a while, at United, he is always being seen, followed and mentioned. He brings a different kind of play to United, one with more style and creativity. Without him, somehow they lack in that area, their style of play also isn't as attractive as with him. Keane probably missed him more than he miss Keane.
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I think Keane is probably a bigger fan of Celtic than Pool's... It seems the Irish is more closer to Celtic club just like Roy as well...
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Originally posted by zocoss:
Berbatov is doing very well at United... At Spurs he hardly gets much attention only once in a while, at United, he is always being seen, followed and mentioned. He brings a different kind of play to United, one with more style and creativity. Without him, somehow they lack in that area, their style of play also isn't as attractive as with him. Keane probably missed him more than he miss Keane.
Not very well, i guess
He wasn't even used for big matches like Arsenal etc, he only fare well against those not-so-good ones
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he said the same thing when he was with liverpool.
boyhood club.
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Originally posted by One Harmonius Blend:
Not very well, i guess
He wasn't even used for big matches like Arsenal etc, he only fare well against those not-so-good ones
Errr sorry but I think you are confuse... He did play in that Arsenal match, and despite the little time he was on the pitch, he created a very good chance for Rooney towards the end of that game only for Rooney to put it inches wide of the post. It all depends on tactics. Fergie wanted to play one striker only in an away match with 5 midfielders which was understandable when Arsenal was undefeated since Nov therefore United started without him as an extra midfielder was needed. -
Originally posted by zocoss:
Errr sorry but I think you are confuse... He did play in that Arsenal match, and despite the little time he was on the pitch, he created a very good chance for Rooney towards the end of that game only for Rooney to put it inches wide of the post. It all depends on tactics. Fergie wanted to play one striker only in an away match with 5 midfielders which was understandable when Arsenal was undefeated since Nov therefore United started without him as an extra midfielder was needed.yes, he did, only the last few minutes he played.
but if he was a utility man like Rooney, he would have played atleast played more than 4/6 of the match already, and just a couple of minutes and he showed his class? No, more of a time-dragging, I guess
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Originally posted by One Harmonius Blend:
yes, he did, only the last few minutes he played.
but if he was a utility man like Rooney, he would have played atleast played more than 4/6 of the match already, and just a couple of minutes and he showed his class? No, more of a time-dragging, I guess
Last few minutes also played didn't he? So he was used right?How do you play 2 strikers if Fergie choose to play a 4 5 1 and 4 3 3 interchange? Tactics is the main reason here... Away match against a quality quick side and you commit 2 strikers could be suicide... But when Fergie decides to play a 4 4 2, his name is first on the list ahead of Tevez or Owen.
And as you said, only a few minutes but despite the few minutes, he still created a great opportunity for Rooney didn't he? Had Rooney put that in, who will be credited with the assist?
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Originally posted by zocoss:
Last few minutes also played didn't he? So he was used right?How do you play 2 strikers if Fergie choose to play a 4 5 1 and 4 3 3 interchange? Tactics is the main reason here... Away match against a quality quick side and you commit 2 strikers could be suicide... But when Fergie decides to play a 4 4 2, his name is first on the list ahead of Tevez or Owen.
And as you said, only a few minutes but despite the few minutes, he still created a great opportunity for Rooney didn't he? Had Rooney put that in, who will be credited with the assist?
Last few minutes? He's just there to stall time
Great opportunity? That's luck though
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Originally posted by One Harmonius Blend:
Last few minutes? He's just there to stall time
Great opportunity? That's luck though
Yeah great opportunity. His pass gave Rooney a one on one with the keeper inside the box... How much more can one ask for... -
Originally posted by zocoss:
Yeah great opportunity. His pass gave Rooney a one on one with the keeper inside the box... How much more can one ask for...for me, it is just pure luck, nothing else
He was there to stall time, period